Human Resources Survey: A Study of Retail Talent Development

How effective are your human resource programs in recruiting and training?

How does your company compare with other retailers in retention and performance of management trainees?

The David F. Miller Center for Retailing Education and Research at the University of Florida solicits your support of a talent management research project, sponsored by the NRF Foundation, the research and education arm of the National Retail Federation Foundation and the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). We are undertaking a study of retail firms' Human Resource Management (HRM) practices and their relationships to the retention of talented management trainees in early career stages. Facing the growing need for talented managers and the high costs of turnover in the competitive retail industry, it is extremely important that HR programs are able to identify and attract potential high performers and prevent the loss of these talented managers. The objective of this study is to uncover the characteristics of effective retail talent development programs - programs that effectively recruit and develop retail managers.

Benefits to Retailers Participating in the Study

For the retail firms participating in the study, the research findings will provide the following benefits:

Benchmark HRM programs against other participating retailers - Each retailer will be able to benchmark its performances of HR programs and management trainees to those of other retailers.

Improve hiring decisions - examples of questions that will be addressed by this research are: What personality and behavioral skills are likely to lead to high performance? Does hiring college graduates who have had retail internships reduce turnover and improve the performance of managers?

Improve management training programs - What are the characteristics of effective management training programs? How important is the relationship of the management trainee with his/her direct supervisor? What effect does the firm's culture have on commitment and turnover?

Reduce turnover among potential high performance management trainees - What aspects of HRM programs tend to reduce turnover? What are the characteristics of new hires that are susceptible to turnover?

Online Survey Questionnaire

Participation in this study requires the completion of the Retail HR Practice Survey, which covers topics such as the selection process, training programs, socialization programs, promotion/career development programs, and organization culture. The survey needs to be completed by a person with knowledge of your firm's recruiting and training program for developing managers. If your company has multiple divisions each with its own HR program, please fill out a separate questionnaire for each division. The survey can best be answered by the director/manager of management training, with minimal assistance from HR executives. You may download the questionnaire before filling out the internet survey.